I wrote this book to explain how South Africa has succeeded to steer away from the brink of civil war to become a political miracle of peace.
To write this book meant fusing empirical studies on the politics of apart¬heid and political violence with theories of political morality. I first had to explain the links between the unjust apartheid system and political violence and then how South Africans managed to establish peace despite injustice and violence. The book ends with a detailed explanation of the moral vision on which the new South Africa rests.
The first chapter of the book explains the concepts injustice and violence. The next three chapters trace the developments which led to the establish¬ment and demise of apartheid South Africa. Chapter Two characterizes the first twenty-five years of the rule of National Party government from 1948 to 1983. Chapter Three discusses the main trends in South African politics brought about by the reforms unilaterally instituted by the National Party in 1983. Chapter Four deals with the conflicting political trends that emerged after the unbanning of persons and organizations by former President F.W. de Klerk in February 1990. The final two chapters give a detailed explanation of the conception of justice underlying South Africa’s remarkable peace.